tommy

i haven't seen this news on eater, chowhound, or mouthfulsfood. is this confirmed by any other source?

Ron (and another egullet poster) acted as my food tour guide on more than one trip to Chicago. Quite gracious, all things considered, and invaluable for a guy who wanted to dive into the Chicago good scene head-first. I'll be looking forward to his no-BS straight-forward real-and-honest agenda-free input on the Chicago board. It's always appreciated.

don't underestimate Stewart's in Point Pleasant Beach. Great room in an historic building ta boot.

Joe's Beef should be happy that you called. everyone knows that cancelations hurt restaurants (just as they hurt accountants and many other businesses). stating as much over the phone, or here, is pointless. "Thanks for calling. We hope to see you soon. I hope your mom didn't die or something."

because sometimes i want good food and good service and a good experience (none of which need to take more than 70 minutes), and i don't have 2 or 3 hours. i've got other stuff to do. i guess i don't understand the question or confusion. or maybe i'm just too busy to understand other peoples' priorities. nah.

confirmed: luger's clone. no website yet.

on a recent trip, i was very surprised to find a bar in Taos that allowed smoking. didn't notice that in Santa Fe too much. we took them up on their smokey offer and had a few after-dinner puffs with our after-dinner drinks. i'm looking forward to a smoke-free Taos on my next visit. something tells me the bar we went to (right there on the square, forget the name) won't suffer.

yes. yes. yes. no doubt.

is the steak dry-aged? is the menu similar to luger's? (steak for two, bacon, lamb chops). did you notice if they have a burger on the menu? if it's a luger's clone a la Ben & Jack's and Wolfgang's, it could be a real contender for the River Palms, which are currently probably the best bet for dry-aged steak in northern jersey, especially if you prefer porterhouse.

impacts the health and safety of bystanders? do you mean emotionally? or maybe you're referring to drinking and driving, which is already illegal. or punching someone because you're a drunk idiot, which is already illegal.

oh my god they're so stupid on TV shows when they make editing and post-production decisions that include mistakes or incorrect narration that about 0.0001% of the viewership care about or even notice!!! they must not know a stone crab from a blue crab! oh man.

edit: can't be bothered pointing it out.

that was actually the most compelling argument that i've read on the subject of smoking as it relates to prize fighting and sports and wanting to be a boxer. i was talking to a restaurant owner the other day, and he is thrilled with the smoking ban, as the bar area can now be used for anyone wanting dinner. before it was smoke-filled, and only a percentage of customers would want to be seated there, or even wait there for a table. he suggested that business is likely not negatively impacted (the contrary was implied, but i don't think he or anyone could really qualify suspicions regarding swings in a business restaurants/bars). the hardcore smokers and drinkers just go to bars anywho.

there are many ways to get addresses of restaurants, even without a computer. the point is that it's a relatively comprehensive general-purpose list of restaurants with addresses and phone numbers that is easily slipped into a purse or bag.

order something. eat a little. smile a lot. get on with your life. simple.

i returned to egan's last night to have a quick beer before meeting a friend at little saigon. judging by my 3 or 4 most recent visits, the complete tosser of a bartender is no longer there. or maybe i've been lucky. the woman who manages the bar was there, and seemed on top of her game (being friendly and managerial sounding). we've had nice conversations with her in the past, and she seems to actually care. my bartender was young and uninterested. still, people seem to love it here. they do have some good music most of the time, and a parking lot, so hey, you could do much worse. but more importantly, they could do so much better.

i was referring to Jim's comment, so *we're* clear.

in the interest of saving people some time, markk is referring to White Castle. also a most excellent option.

the owner should probably be aiming for having people served drinks when they want one. making excuses based on an assumption of their business model (food secondary??) is nothing more than making accuses for poor service. poor service is unacceptable in any type of "pub" or restaurant. and then other times the service is fine.

i would eat at Chipotle every day. and if i didn't i'd be tempted to try Cheeseburger in Paradise. But then I'd probably be back at Chipotle from there on out. except for when i'd sneak out to Rutt's Hut. or White Mana on route 1.

the management of this place seems to have no idea how their staff treats customers. given this, they fail. if they *do* know what's going on, then they're failing again. if egan's wasn't essentially the only game in town, they might have to actually try a bit harder. they are, and they don't.

i think all brooklyn restaurants are annoying. and Babbo too, because it's hard to get into. Otto not so much.

I'll say it again, "A wine corkage fee exists to allow a customer to bring a special wine, not to bring what they like, because they don't like what's on your list." That is why they exist, and any other 'use' of the corkage fee by the customer, is incorrect. If you are bringing a bottle of Yellow Tail, or something on the restaurant's list, and they let you pour it, they are being VERY accomodating. ('Excuse me, can I have a bottle of what they are drinking? What, you mean they don't like what I drink here every week? Hmmmmm.) A corkage fee is completely defined by the person/business owner who is charging it. Not the customer. History will show that that is the longstanding custom in this country. IAs for beer? That only works for Hollywood Celebs, babe. ← i don't really follow your examples as they seem to contradict each other. regardless, i am of the opinion that corkage is offered at restaurants for a variety of reasons, one of which being that you don't like what is on the list. if you haven't reviewed it already, some points on corkage are discussed here. upon re-reading, i'm thinking there's a communication issue here stemming from word choice. no one has suggested that one would bring a bottle of Yellow Tail, or, a wine that already exists on the list.

i try to like this place. i left hungry, after a multi-course tasting menu on my last visit, about 6 months ago. i've never left any restaurant hungry, with this exception.

i'd recommend the lamb's tongue salad as well. i've always been of the opinion that babbo excels at pasta. excels. the proteins have never blown me away, though. i'm hard pressed to get anything but a mess of pasta when i go.